Among other applications, a practical example of the use of devices for the fast transport of singularized objects is the individual feeding of screws to robot screwers or assembly stations in production, machining, assembly, packaging or similar lines of industrial or consumer products.
It is known that already singularized screws can be fed to the screwer through a flexible tube connected between a screw magazine and screwer that allows the screwer to move (for example, in a robotized manner or by a screwdriver operator) with respect to the magazine that contains the screws.
The previously singled screw is inserted into an inlet portion of the flexible tube, to which a source of compressed air is connected, to “shoot” the screw pneumatically through the flexible tube to the outlet of the tube connected to the screwer.
However, in the industrial field, fixed compressed air installations and the use of compressed air to “shoot” the singled objects to the destination are increasingly criticized for the high consumption and cost of compressed air, noise and the safety risks related to powerful blasts of air.
For example, the preparation and maintenance of machining assembly stations makes it essential to detach and reattach the flexible transport tubes and, with the outlet end of the tube detached or, in any case, open and exposed, the unprotected blast of air can injure the user (either directly or indirectly by blowing or agitating dust, chips, etc.). Moreover, the object transported by means of compressed air can become a projectile even at the outlet of the tube due to the high pneumatic pressure that continues to act on the object during the entire path along the tube.
The fast transport systems of the prior art are also unsuitable for the transport of objects of delicate shape or material (material subject to abrasion, shapes with thin projections or objects covered with paint or powder), since in the initial phase of the “shooting” of the object along a rising portion of the tube, the object itself but also the inner surface of the tube are subject to undesirable friction and mechanical stress, in addition to the fact that the jet of compressed air can damage the coatings or surface treatments of the object to be transported.
There is, thus, the need to reduce the use of compressed air and safety risks in the fast transport of objects and, at the same time, to also adapt fast transport systems for the fast transport of delicate objects.
These and other purposes are achieved through a device for the fast transport of objects according to claim 1. The dependent claims relate to advantageous embodiments.